


Predetermination

by LightningNymph



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 14:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3122921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningNymph/pseuds/LightningNymph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In short, giving all of Torchwood a day off (nothing would happen that wasn’t going to be taken care of by other people anyway) and making his way to where he remembers they’d parked the TARDIS so, so long ago for him would potentially be tantamount to suicide-by-Reaper. Get the timing wrong and all hell would break loose in… not the most literal sense, actually, but close enough.<br/>And yet here he was, watching his younger self run off in the opposite direction from him with the Doctor and Rose to meet up with Mickey.<br/>(Rating for a one-line mention of sexytimes, otherwise gen.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Predetermination

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr user talonfrost has been re-watching Doctor Who and Torchwood and noted that in Torchwood season 2 there are "new mayor, new Cardiff" posters everywhere, indicating that the events of Boomtown are around that time somewhere, meaning Jack knows exactly who this mayor will be and that at some point, a younger version of him will be running around with Rose and the Doctor. Then they mused what if Jack remembered what time they were all eating or whatever and went to visit the TARDIS at that time. The fic wrote itself.

He remembers the date with crystal clarity. Sometimes he wonders if it was seared into his brain back in Satellite Five when he woke up terrified but alive, racing to where the Doctor and Rose were only to miss them at the last second.

Everything he has ever learned in training to be a time agent basically comes down to Don’t Even Think About It with regards to this plan. Crossing time streams is potentially lethal, and although he hadn’t exactly taken those rules to heart before (which had led to some interesting only-technically-threesomes he looked back on fondly), he knew certain people didn’t fuck around with this sort of thing.

In short, giving all of Torchwood a day off (nothing would happen that wasn’t going to be taken care of by other people anyway) and making his way to where he remembers they’d parked the TARDIS so, so long ago for him would potentially be tantamount to suicide-by-Reaper. Get the timing wrong and all hell would break loose in… not the most literal sense, actually, but close enough.  
And yet here he was, watching his younger self run off in the opposite direction from him with the Doctor and Rose to meet up with Mickey.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. He’d settled down at a table just outside a nearby café with a small crowd of loud schoolkids skipping class between them, but one look the wrong way when the kids leaned away…

It didn’t happen, though he thought it might have been close for a second. He waited for five minutes after they left to make sure, put a bill under his untouched coffee cup, and left.

He couldn’t see her, not anymore. Probably some sort of self-defence against impossibilities of time and space, or maybe just because he’s not technically the Doctor’s companion anymore. It still opened at his touch, though. He slipped inside, the familiarity and happiness and grief hitting like a sledgehammer. He stood frozen for a long moment, finally managing to force the words past his lips.

"…hello, old girl. Been a while…"

The TARDIS was quiet, but it let out a distinctly unhappy-sounding whirr of machinery at the sound of his voice. Jack smiled.

"I know, I know. I shouldn’t be here. I’ll leave before they see me, just wanted to say hello…"

There were no answering noises from the TARDIS this time. Possibly that was the TARDIS’ way of communicating grudging permission, since it wasn’t de-materializing around him either.

Moving like a sleepwalker, Jack made his way through the cockpit carefully, hands brushing over the guard rail lovingly. He didn’t dare go far into the hallways, the danger of losing track of time a very real possibility, just stuck his head around the corner to take a quick peek.

With a heavy heart, Jack finally made to leave, stopping in the doorway to give the frame a loving pat. “Take care of ‘em for me.”

As the door fell shut behind him, Jack could have sworn that there was a distinctly indignant sound, as if the TARDIS wanted to tell him that of course she would.

Shaking his head, a wry smile on his face, Jack walked off, intending to make himself scarce long before Team TARDIS returned.

By all means he shouldn’t have done this, but in the end, it was worth it.


End file.
